Aladdin's Jafar and and 5 other evil Disney villains we love to hate

The Disney live-action remakes are now coming in thick and fast, with three being released this year alone. Speaking of which, it will soon be time to meet a young street urchin named Aladdin in director Guy Ritchie's reboot of the same name.

Played by Mena Massoud, Aladdin must decide which three wishes will win him the heart of Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) when he comes face to face with a familiar blue genie, this time played by Will Smith via a lot of CGI magic.

Vying for the princess' affections is Marwan Kenzari's Grand Vizier and evil sorcerer, Jafar, who with his villainous schemes and clearly evil facial hair is a new incarnation of one of Disney's greatest villains.

Before we all revel in booing and hissing at the live-action version, here are a few more Disney bad guys we loved to hate.

1. Cruella de Vil

Is there an act any more evil than the murdering of innocent puppies in order to make a decadent garment? No, no there isn't. Such is the plan of one Cruella de Vil, a woman so morbid and skeletal in appearance that she must wear the furs of beautiful animals in order to hide the undead monster that lurks beneath.

A glamour-obsessed heiress whose only true passion derives from the suffering of the animal kingdom in order to adorn herself with their carcasses, Cruella de Vil is every bit as cruel and evil as her name suggests. It's all the more satisfying to watch her downfall stem from her own stubbornness and fury.

2. Hades

The main antagonist of Disney's Hercules, Hades is the younger brother of head-honcho Zeus, and undisputed lord of the Underworld. Voiced by actor James Woods, Hades is a fast-talking, quipping villain, often making jokes for his own twisted amusement, and manipulative more in the manner of a used car salesman than a sinister deity.

Nonetheless, Hades is still quite the evil trickster, ensuring that Hercules suffers on his journey to becoming a hero and saviour of both Earth and Olympus. No amount of jokes will make it any less satisfying to watch him punched into the underworld oblivion by our hero.

3. Ursula

A much less funny, and much more evil, Disney villain is Ursula, the half-human, half-octopus creature that no doubt haunts the nightmares of many a merfolk. Ursula's lair is littered with polyps, the decrepit remains of the souls of mer-people who failed to meet their side of the bargains made with the sinister Sea Witch.

Using her black magic, Ursula takes our princess Ariel's voice in exchange for legs so that she can pursue love on the land. Our naive heroine may not know it, but from the loud cackling and much hand-wringing undertaken by Ursula, we know that she is in hot water indeed. Good thing the devilish witch ends up being impaled, eh? Cue the thunderous applause.

4. Gaston

Who plays darts like Gaston? Who breaks hearts like Gaston? Who's as much fun to utterly loathe as Gaston? As a specimen, yes, he's intimidating... but he's also irritatingly smug and thus a character whom we can't help but feel glee at seeing fail.

The strong-chinned antagonist of the tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast, Gaston is the man who leads the pitchfork-wielding mob to the castle gates of our beastly hero, to kill him and then somehow win the heart of the intellectual beauty, Belle. In 2017, he was brought to gleeful life by Luke Evans in Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast movie.

5. Scar

As a lion whose kingly ambitions have been sidelined in favour of his young nephew, you can't really blame Scar for feeling jealous. Still, murdering your brother Mufasa and tricking said nephew Simba into guilt-driven exile is probably going a bit far.

Voiced by Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons, whose raspy tones give Scar's vocals and growls a deliciously evil quality, the character's sarcastic wit and cynical nature are a delight to behold, as is his insidious scheming, as he stands atop his brother's bones and becomes king of the Pride Lands.

Of course, watching Simba return to put his monstrous uncle in his place is equally delightful and one of the most memorable moments in Disney history. This summer, we'll get to witness the excitement all over again in Disney's reboot of The Lion King, featuring Donald Glover as the voice of the adult Simba and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the voice of Scar.

Aladdin is released on 22nd May so tweet us @Cineworld with your favourite Disney villains.

Jon Fuge is a writer who blogs for Cineworld as part of our news team.